


No Dominion

by cloverfield



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: M/M, Outo Arc, Perma Death Mode, Pre-Relationship, meme fill, might-have-been meme, vengeance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24489922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloverfield/pseuds/cloverfield
Summary: Might-Have-Been meme: OutoThere’s no body to be seen, just dead leaves blown in through the door to scatter across the tiles and a scrap of torn red silk that was once a necktie, but Kurogane has seen enough of death to believe the mage - to believeFaiis truly gone.
Relationships: Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane, Kurogane & Mokona, Kurogane & Syaoran
Kudos: 24





	No Dominion

**Author's Note:**

> A scene from the Might-Have-Been meme for Outo arc: what if Fai had really died in Outo?

There’s no body to be seen, just dead leaves blown in through the door to scatter across the tiles and a scrap of torn red silk that was once a necktie, but Kurogane has seen enough of death to believe the mage - to believe _Fai_ is truly gone.

“Mokona couldn’t - Mokona couldn’t save him,” hiccups the manjuu, fat tears leaking down its crumpled face, those tiny paws clinging to Syaoran’s shirt, and somehow that soft little cry hurts so much worse than any wailing or screaming might.

“It’s alright, Mokona-chan,” says the kid, his voice creaking with the effort not to break, and his hands when they wrap around the manjuu are shaking. “It wasn’t your fault - you couldn’t have done anything against Seishirou-san without getting hurt. We’re just s-so glad you’re safe.”

The princess is still sleeping. Small mercies, and the only thing kind about any of this. Without thinking about why, Kurogane finds his hand comes to rest gently on her forehead. The soft strands of Sakura’s hair tickle against his palm, fluttering gently in the breeze that trickles through the open door and swirls the leaves across the floor in teasing eddies.

_How are you going to tell her? How are you going to look her in the eye and tell her what happened under your watch?_

“Mokona can’t - it hurts so much! Fai is gone! _He’s gone!_ ”

This time the manjuu really is wailing, the waver of it piercing sharp into the soft place in Kurogane’s chest he tries so damn hard to ignore, cutting clean through years of scars and loss. _Another one_. _You’ve lost another one, and you barely got to know him._

_You never got to see what he might have become._

“I’m going.”

Syaoran looks up, and he’s lost the fight against tears after all - his eyes are red, cheeks wet and blotchy. “Kurogane-san?”

“Stay with the manjuu, and watch over the princess. Lock all the doors and windows. Don’t open them until I come back.”

It’s small protection if the murdering bastard makes his way back here, but it takes a murdering bastard to know one, and Kurogane _knows_ that Seishirou is waiting for them to come to him like he knows the tremble in his fingers as they reach for Souhi’s hilt is not from fear.

“You mean to,” Syaoran starts, and his eyes are round, shining and wet and so terribly young. 

_You were younger when Suwa burned._

“You’re going to, to fight him?”

“Yes.” _No._

_I’m going to kill him._

Syaoran calls out when Kurogane leaves, some kind of protest; but the words are just noise, just meaningless sound beating dumbly against the roaring in his ears and easy to ignore. Kurogane loosens Souhi from her sheath, metal shining and rippling sharp in the sunlight. Her edge is clean and beautiful and _perfect_. It’s time to get her bloody.

There’s people screaming downtown, Oni rampaging in packs as buildings burn. For the first time in his life, the sight of demons doesn’t send Kurogane into a rage; he just feels cold, even the promise of a good fight not enough to heat his blood.

His sandals clack across the cobblestones of the park, flurries of cherry blossoms drifting slick and pink around the hems of his hakama, stirred by the wind, and the stench of murder that oozes on the breeze is thick and rank.

“I was expecting the boy, to be honest,” says Seishirou, looking down from his perch atop the tallest sakura tree. There’s something almost friendly in his smile, but his eyes - his _eye_ \- is as black and soulless as glass. “But I suppose you’ll do for now.”

It’s noise, just noise - sound and useless breath. Nothing of any meaning. Kurogane looks up; sees that smiling face, and thinks of a man that never had a chance to be anything more than the ghost of a smile and blue eyes that hurt.

~~_“I was the kind of man that always waited for someone to take me away.”_ ~~

In the shadow of his hood, one of Seishirou’s eyes gleams. “You know, it’s _very_ rude to ignore someone when they’re speaking to you-”

“Shut up.”

In his hand, Souhi _screams_.

**Author's Note:**

> This scene assumes that death in Outo is "perma death"; one could easily draw the conclusion that if one is killed in the game, one dies in real life (like Sword Art Online). I think Kurogane's character development would, in this case, both be extremely compacted and somewhat different if Fai had not survived.


End file.
